My Collection of British Railway Clocks and How
it Started.

It all started for me back in the 1970's when visiting the newly
commissioned National Railway Museum in York, I came across Collectors
corner which was a small shop selling railway relics, I purchased a
signal arm and that was the start of my railway relics collection.

Over
the years I bought other signs especially enamel ones in the regional
railway colours, I really liked the totem signs and in 1977 was able to
purchase a Worcester Shrub Hill one for the princely sum of £5 ! I still
collect this type of sign and am always looking to add to these.

I moved
into my first house and dreamed of being able to get a original Railway
clock, my first clock was a John Walker Southern Railway 12 inch fusee
which had lain forgotten in the cellar of the former Moseley Railway
museum, I was bitten by the bug !

My mechanical knowledge got the
better of me so I taught myself how to repair the movements, the
woodwork side didn't present a problem as having a father who was a
woodwork teacher a lot of his skills rubbed off on me.

The clocks shown
below are mainly ones that are in my collection and are
definitely not for sale, I hope this
shows the variety of different styles of clocks that the railways
adopted, whether a small fusee wall clock or a large weight driven
regulator or a fine bracket clock, they are all British Railway clocks
and no doubt could tell a story or two.

I have used the information from
my Railway clock records to add some information in the descriptions, I
hope you find this of interest and maybe give you ideas about owning an
original railway clock.

London North Western Railway
& Great Western Railway Joint 8 inch mahogany
cased fusee wall clock. A rare clock, with a segmented
mahogany surround to the case. It was supplied to the joint line
in the latter part of the 19th Century by Joyce of Whitchurch
and spent it's railway working life at Leebotwood Signal box, it
has escaped any dial repainting as a lot of the clocks from this
line were repainted after the Western Region took over and have
rather plain BR-W written dials. Leebotwood was a station on
the Shrewsbury and Hereford joint line (GWR & LNWR) between
Craven Arms and Shrewsbury and was closed on the 9th June 1958,
however the signal box remained open and was eventually closed
on October 15th 1967.

South Eastern Railway Clock
14 inch dial Walnut cased drop dial fusee wall clock. A rare
and so far unique clock, with delicately carved Hop cone ears
attached to a well proportioned Trunk case, the clock is made
from walnut with veneers to the front.It was supplied to the
South Eastern Railway in the middle part of the 19th Century
probably by John Carter of Tooley St & Cornhill St London who
later became Mayor of London.It spent it's railway working
life at one of the South Eastern Railway's lonely outposts at
Reading in use in the booking office. The Dial was repainted
after 1948 by the Southern Railway and later British Railway's
Southern Region clock contractor, John Walker of 1 South Molton
Street, London. This clock shows the quality that some of
the railway companies demanded for their clocks.

London Brighton and South
Coast Railway Clock14 inch dial Mahogany cased
drop dial fusee wall clock. This superb drop dial trunk
clock was supplied to the London Brighton and South Coast
Railway in 1855 by William Wright of Tooley St London, it spent
all of it's railway working life at Sydenham signal box and was
sold by British railways in December 1964 for scrap to Messer's
Goering of London, from here it was purchased by the gentleman I
bought it from. The Dial was repainted by the Southern
Railway and later British Railways Southern Region clock
contractor, John Walker of 1 South Molton Street, London post
1948.Not many original William Wright clocks survive, let
alone in this original condition, you can clearly make out where
the round LBSC Railway enamel plate was,
these plates are extremely rare and
now some are being remanufactured, so make sure if you see a
clock with one of these on you get it checked out by and expert
!Sydenham was a former London Brighton and South
Coast Railway station in Kent on the line from New Cross to
Norwood Junction.

Great Eastern Railway Clock
12 inch dial carved Oak cased fusee wall clock.This
impressive timepiece has very fine carving, a good quality
English fusee movement with deadbeat escapement and maintaining
power and unusual Maltese cross hands, the intricate nature of
this clock can be attributed to its location being the Great
Eastern Railway Sandringham Hotel Hunstanton which was
frequented by Royalty especially Edward VII. The clock dates
from circa 1899 when the hotel was opened and the dial was
repainted by the London and North Eastern Railway with the
letters LNER probably just after the Grouping, but GER is still
visible beneath this.

South Eastern Railway clock
14inch dial Oak Chisel cased drop dial fusee wall clock.This
clock was supplied to the South Eastern Railway in the latter
quarter of the 19th Century by Grimshaw and Baxter of London, it
spent it's railway working life firstly at Goudhurst Station
Booking office and latterly at Godalming Station Booking office.
The Dial was repainted by the Southern Railway and later British
Railways Southern Region clock contractor, John Walker of 1
South Molton Street , London post 1948 and escaped the red 24
hour numerals because it was sold for scrap on the 23rd November
1964 to Messer's Goering who were in London. Fortunately they
didn't scrap the clocks but according to the Gentleman I
purchased another clock from they piled them in a big heap in a
rather small yard and sold some from that pile !Goudhurst
was a former South Eastern Railway station in Kent on the line
between Paddock Wood and Hawkhurst and was closed on 12th June
1961 (4 months before I was born ) and then the clock was
transferred to Godalming which was a station in Surrey on the
former London and South Western Railway line between Guildford
and Petersfield. Circa 1880.

London and South Western Railway 8 inch dial
Mahogany cased fusee clock.This clock was supplied to the
London and South Western Railway ( LSWR ) in 1898 by John
Walker of London at a cost of £2-12-6d, it spent most of it's
railway working life at Wool crossing box in Dorset and then was
transferred to Exeter Central Station where it came under
British railways Western region ownership on the 1st January
1963, it was lucky not to have had a BR-W repaint as it retains
its original Southern Railway dial painting applied after the
grouping in 1923 by the Southern Railway clock contractor, John
Walker of 1 South Molton Street , London. Circa 1880.

Great Western Railway
14 inch oak cased fusee drop dial wall clock.
This clock is so far a unique example of this style of GWR
clock, it was supplied by
Kays of Worcester and this as well as GWR in block style
lettering is clearly visible as ghosted dial writing. The
drop of the case features an ornately carved kidney shaped
lenticle surround through which is visible the rather unusual
metal cylindrical pendulum bob. I would be interested if
anyone out there has a similar clock as I have yet to see
another one of his style. Circa 1870.

Newport, Godshill & St. Lawrence Railway (Isle Of Wight) Oak cased 10
inch dial fusee wall clock.This clock was supplied to the
Newport, Godshill & St. Lawrence Railway probably in 1897 for
the opening of the station by William Potts and sons of Leeds at a
cost of £5, it spent all of it's early railway working life on
the Isle of Wight and was used at Whitwell Station waiting room,
upon closure of this Station on the 15th September 1952, it made
a short trip across the Solent and spent the rest of its Railway
working life at Portsmouth & Southsea Parcels Office. The
dial would have been repainted after the nationalisation in 1948
by the British Railways Southern Region clock contractor, John
Walker of 1 South Molton Street , London. Isle of Wight clocks
are extremely rare as the Island only had around 80 clocks
allocated. The Station at Whitwell is still standing and has
been converted into tasteful Holiday accommodation click on the
image of the clock for more details.

Great Western Railway Rosewood Chisel cased 12
inch dial fusee wall clock. An extremely rare and desirable
example of a very early GWR clock, the case is made out of
rosewood veneered pine in the saltbox style and features ebony
and brass inlays, the pendulum suspends from the top of the back
box not the movement. There are only four of this type
known to exist and all differ slightly in decoration, the dial
has been rewritten circa 1930 and features the short lived
screen printing process, the clock dates from around 1845.

Midland Railway Oak cased 14 inch dial weight
driven wall clock. An extremely rare clock as this is the
only known example of this type, it was supplied circa 1870 by
Ball & Son of Leicester to the Midland Railway and spent all of
it's life at Shustoke station. It has a weight driven
movement with anchor escapement and a seconds pendulum it also
features a drive for a subsidiary dial which would have been
located on the platform side of the wall the clock was mounted
to, the case also retains it's later LMS numberplate and has
it's original Ball & Son Leicester stamped key.

Great Western Railway Mahogany Trunk cased 12
inch dial fusee wall clock.A standard Great Western drop
dial trunk clock, this is one of the earlier examples supplied
by Skarratt of Worcester who later became
Kays who still operate a mail order catalogue business
today. This type of clock was the most common type used by
the GWR. Circa 1870.

London Brighton and South Coast Railway teak
cased 18 inch dial weight driven wall clock.A large and
attractive solid Teak cased wall mounted weight driven
regulator that was supplied to the LBSCR in 1865 at a cost of
£7-10-0d by Richard Webster of Cornhill St London it spent all
of it's railway working life at Bosham Station Platform.The
Dial was repainted by the Southern and later British Railways
Southern Region clock contractor, John Walker of 1 South Molton
Street , London post 1948. This type of clock was usually
mounted externally hence the need for using Teak in the case
construction, the movement has six spoked wheels, deadbeat
escapement, Harrison's maintaining power and a deal pendulum rod
with a cast zinc cylindrical bob which is suspended from the
backboard, this is a impressive clock standing 85 inches
tall so can't always fit the modern houses ceiling height
! Richard Webster of Cornhill supplied just over 350 clocks
to the LBSCR between 1851 and 1878 and most can be recognised by
the distinctive shape of the hour hand.

Contact

I am always interested in
purchasing any fusee clock, wall clock, mantle
clock and weight driven clocks from the Great Western Railway,
Southern Railway, London and South Western Railway, London Brighton and
South Coast Railway, South Eastern Railway, Midland
Railway, LMS, GWR, BR(S), BR(E), BR(W) and any John Walker Railway Clocks.